


Love Like You

by Chimera (Chimera13)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 22:44:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4410734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chimera13/pseuds/Chimera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Quartz is dying, and Pearl must grapple with her new lack of direction and animosity toward Greg in preparation of welcoming a new member to the Crystal Gems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Like You

A fog rolled over Beach City, casting the typically saturated town in tones of grey. The coastal Delmarva air was cold, heavy, and still; the lack of any breeze made the city's foliage look like it was holding its breath. Along the boardwalk wandered a solemn Pearl, looking like a gaunt spectre drifting aimlessly with the fog. She was more pale than usual, her long arms crossed and holding her stomach, long nose pointed at the floor. She was moving forward with some hesitation and uncertainty. This was a walk Pearl had taken many times before, but with a semblance of purpose objective in her heart; now, that purpose was wilting before her eyes, and she couldn't take any sort of action to prevent it. 

Rose Quartz was going into labor. The human process of birth was arduous and painful, the Gems were led to believe, but it didn't usually demand sacrifice. But Garnet's unwavering future vision told differently for Rose. Rose and her child could not both exist; in order to bring Steven, as Garnet foretold the offspring to be named, into the world as a human would, Rose would have to relinquish her physical form and sacrifice her gem into the new human body she had incubated. A gem-human hybrid had never existed prior; the rest Crystal Gems anticipated the moment when the path of the child's fate would become clear to Garnet, because they were excited to see what the future held. Certainly, none of them thought it would have to be one or the other. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. But when the boat of Garnet's future vision sails down a particular delta for long enough, there's no denying its the path of fate. Pearl wanted nothing more than to protect Rose; she had faced the malice of her entire planet's army and surpassed it by the skin of her teeth, and the last thing she deserved was to die trying to preserve life in the world as she had dedicated her very existence on Earth to. She had grown to love and understand humans so deeply that when she and Greg agreed to forge a new life together, she essentially became human; in shapeshifting a human womb for Steven, she had to feed him by shapeshifting a human umbilical cord and stomach, and to maintain her new organs she had to give herself human lungs, a heart, and a brain, and all the hardships and everyday tasks that came with being a human. Pearl understood these things better than anyone, and that everyone who knew Rose saw her as a beacon of nobility, bravery, and strength. She was a flower - not delicate, but one that Pearl felt she needed to maintain and protect nonetheless, out of long-practiced devotion and, more than anything, out of love and admiration. But this ordeal was not a weapon Pearl could throw herself in front of in selfless defense; this was nothing like the war. So, here she was, feeling powerless once again, and wishing that being Rose's knight would ever be enough.

Pearl stopped in her tracks, overwhelmed, until she heard tires screech. Sharply turning the corner was the van of Mr. Universe himself. Usually awkward and passionate, Greg was in hysterics. Pearl looked up to meet his frantic gaze as he passed, and once he saw her, he slammed on the brakes. 

"Pearl!" Greg shouted from his open window, leaning forward, "Pearl, are Rose and the Gems at the temple? Do you know what's going on?"

"She's started going into labor, I think," said Pearl defeated, looking at her shoes, "I was... I was being ridiculous, so I had to leave. Garnet and Amethyst are with her now."

"Is it happening now?" Greg asked, panicked and shaking, "I need to be there when it happens, Pearl, I need-"

"Where were you?" Pearl interrogated, her tone a tinge accusatory.

"I-I was at the wash," explained Greg, desperately trying to compose himself, "Vidalia came by, and she said that Amethyst had to leave her place earlier because there was something wrong with Rose, a-and... Wait, Vidalia?"

Greg realized he was talking at Pearl through an empty backseat. A voice from the back of his van groaned, "I'm back here, dude. Forgot to put my seatbelt on..."

"Oh no, Vidalia, I..." Greg stopped himself, and directed his eyes back to Pearl, "Pearl, I need to be there when it happens. Do you want me to take you with me?"

"I don't need you to...!" started Pearl, defensively, but she hesitated, "I-I don't know. I don't know if I'd be more of a help or a hindrance at this point."

"I'm sure she wants you there, Pearl," said Greg, his voice lowering a tad, "Its going to happen either way. And if it has to happen at all..."

Pearl looked down at the faded planks of the boardwalk, and the tears started to well. Suddenly, her emotions boiled over; so many thoughts and feelings had she held at bay for the good of the team, for Rose's sake. That wouldn't matter now; she had to direct them at someone.

"It... never... 'had to happen'," muttered Pearl, barely audible. She had begun to tremble, her fists and teeth clenched.

"What are you saying, Pearl...?" asked Greg, concerned.

"Who..." Pearl began, her teeth clenched nearly to the breaking point, "Whose fault is this, Greg?! Who made her like this? Who planted this... this _thing_ inside of her, made her sacrifice so much? As if she hasn't done enough for you, for your whole planet! And what do you give her in return? You give her the burden of humanity for nine long months, and you take her away from us. Pretty soon, she's going to be gone, Greg; we're going to lose our leader, the one we fought for and lived with and cherished for thousands of years. Do you have any idea how that could possibly feel? Do you understand that you've tortured her, for all this time, and now you've stolen her away?"

Greg looked into Pearl's glassy eyes as she went silent and stared at the floor again, and saw how absolutely indignant and filled with rage she was. She let out a shuddering breath in the silence, and Greg took in one of his own.

"Of course I do," Greg replied, crushed.

"Wh-what?" asked Pearl, taken aback.

"Of course I blame myself, Pearl," Greg added in a voice beyond solemn, and lacking any animosity, "How could I not? She's going to be gone because of me; since Garnet could see that future, I've lived with that every day, just like you all have. Rose and I have been spending every day together with an expiration date. I wish more than anything in the whole world that this could have been avoided. But we had no idea this was coming... Garnet couldn't see that yet, in whatever way she does. Please believe me when I say that if I had known, if i _could_ have known, I wouldn't have even brought it up. But I just... I wanted to make something beautiful with her. She did too; this was as much of her original idea as it was mine, and that's not to put the blame on her at all, but Pearl, you have to believe me when I say that I love her. I love her more than life..."

Greg's tears were flowing, and he began to wipe them from his cheeks with a big hand. He continued, "Rose means everything to me, and I wanted to give her everything. This is something we both wanted. And still, I hate myself for doing this to her. I understand everything you're saying; I know you want me to feel like I'm the one to blame, and I want you to know that you're right. You've always been right. I am to blame, and I'll always regret there not being another way, but Garnet said so herself. I can't tell you how sorry I am for causing this, Pearl; please don't ever think I'm not aware of the damage I've done. Everybody tells me not to blame myself, that it isn't my fault, but no matter how much I try to listen and understand, I always just think of how much I've ruined for you all, and how much you hate me. I'm not blind to it; you don't need to tell me. All this time, I've just been trying to make up for it, by doing what I thought was right. But the least I can do for her now is be there for her, and say my goodbyes, because as much as I want the opposite, that's all I can do. You always inspired me to be there for her; I admire that about you so much. I have to be there for her now. So... can I please give you a ride, Pearl?"

Pearl felt utterly sick. "I-I..." she stammered, and then fell to her knees, as if the harsh blade of reality had pierced her core. Her tears poured onto the boardwalk like Rose's precious fountain.

"I'm sorry, Greg," Pearl eventually compelled, with the utmost sincerity, "H-had I understood your devotion to her, I-I would've never felt that way about you. I think you know more about being a knight th-than even I do..."

"I understand, Pearl," said Greg, delicately, "I can't tell you how sorry I am. You're more of a knight than I could ever be; I look up to you for it."

"I love her so much, Greg..." wept Pearl, inhaling sharply.

"I know you do, Pearl," Greg replied, "I know you do. I love her too."

Pearl let herself cry for a moment longer, and then stretched upward. She sniffed once, and gradually gained her composure.

"So," said Pearl, still shaking a bit, "What are we waiting for? Let's be there for her, together."

Greg smiled at Pearl tenderly as he unlocked the passenger's side door to let her in. Pearl piled her long limbs into the small seat, the tip of her cone-like hairdo smushed against the headrest. She looked into the back of the van and saw Vidalia sitting with her hands around her knees. Pearl reached a hand out to her and Vidalia cradled it with her hands in sympathy. Then, Pearl turned to Greg and gave him a warm hug, which Greg returned wholeheartedly, though the strength of her embrace was a tad bit too tight and caused him to make strained noises. With a hum, the van started up and sped past the boardwalk, where a faint pink light had begun to glow from inside the temple.


End file.
